[Flying Ace]

1. risk it, you have to drive the car without the proverbial condom wrapped around it. I've heard of some people who have purchased and made claims on it, and it was no questions asked smooth claims, but then again, $1800 is no chump change. I haven't seen many bent wheels incidents posted here since 2010 when I joined M3post, but the insurance does cover tires, but it's very pricy for just tire insurance.

2. True

3. not sure someone is willing to just price you for wheel/tire coverage, but your comprehensive car insurance can cover wheel damage, but you'll have a higher deductible. In the future, if you buy tires from Tire Rack, they offer tire insurance (not wheels insurance) at a rate of about $20 per tire, so you can see, most of the premium you're paying with the dealer option is to insure the cost to replace the wheels.

Ultimately, it's the classic debate on whether one needs to purchase any insurance. Just consider the premium you pay reflects the actual payout probability, the total amount of people covered, average cost to the company per claim, and their profit margin. $1800 seems very high, but mostly b/c due to lack of amount of people to bought coverage. You can buy a complete new set of ZCP wheels and tires for around $2300 on the forums.
4. welcome.